Hugo Destaillats is a Staff Scientist at the Environmental Energy Technologies Division, and Deputy Leader of the Indoor Environment Group. He has been a scientist at LBNL since 2003. Hugo obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), and has been a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology and UC Davis.

Research Interests

• Environmental chemistry of the built environment and urban systems
• Indoor air quality. Sources and chemical transformations of indoor pollutants
• Pathways of exposure to harmful contaminants, and the associated health impacts
• Development and assessment of air purification technologies
• With LBNL’s Heat Island Program, working towards the development and rating of novel “cool” building envelope materials (roofs and walls) that help save energy and mitigate the urban heat island effect
• Environmental application of catalysis, photocatalysis and other advanced remediation technologies
• Full list of publications

News

August 2018: LBNL Director's Award for exceptional achievement - Societal Impact Awarded to the Thirdhand Smoke Research Team
November 2016: R&D 100 Award for the development of an accelerated aging practice to simulate effects of natural exposure on radiative properties of cool roofing materials
January-February 2017: Our work on electronic cigarettes was featured in the University of California News and The Vaping Post  September 2016: Our article on emissions from electronic cigarettes was featured in the cover of ES&T Emissions from electronic cigarettes: Key parameters affecting the release of harmful chemicals M. Sleiman, J.M. Logue, V.N. Montesinos, M.L. Russell, M.I. Litter, L.A. Gundel, H. Destaillats. Environ. Sci.Technol., 2016, 50, 9644-9651.
May 2015: Our method for accelerated aging of cool roofing materials was accepted as ASTM Standard D7897-15.